If I had to describe Tekken 8 in one word… I would use the word “awesome.” Perhaps it is not the most profound or poetic word to use, but no other game oozes as much, well, awesomeness as Tekken 8 does.
That is not to say that the game is without its flaws though. There are some characters missing that I would have liked to see. The multiplayer is so-so. And I got all the trophies in roughly 13 hours, which given its $70 price point is kind of a letdown. Was sort of hoping for 20 hours, at least. But, honestly, the amount of time a game takes for me to finish is not the biggest deal-breaker for me. I actually prefer shorter experiences. And I knew going in it would not be the longest game to beat. Honestly, I thought it was going to be shorter. But I joined in rather late, so playing multiplayer proved to be more difficult as I was going up against fans of the game. People who sort of knew what they were doing. Still… I was able to get it done. And just in around 13 hours. Which, given the game’s steep price point… Left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
But man, the story mode was just so awesome that it’s hard for me to stay mad for very long. Even the arcade-mode story thing that they implemented was kind of interesting. But we will get to that later. Story mode. It is awesome! Again, I wish I had a better adjective. But it was the only word my brain could muster while I was experiencing it. Especially the ending… God, it was just incredible!
Now, obviously… I am not going to spoil the ending or anything like that. So, don’t worry! But when the story mode started and Jin was driving his motorcycle up the side of a skyscraper, I knew I would be in for quite the experience. Though, I will say that it took until about chapter 5 to really hook me. It starts out as a generic action romp, then chapter 5 hits and it sort of starts sinking into that typical Tekken wackiness fans all know about (and have come to expect from the series at this point). And there are only 15 chapters in total. So, once it begins to pick up in chapter 5… It really picks up and does not let go until the very end.
I mean, I was enjoying the game fine enough up until this point. I did all the miscellaneous trophies first before diving into the story mode. But once I got to the story mode, I was reminded as to why I adore the Tekken series as much as I do. The creativity on display here is just inspiring. Sure, it may be kind of campy overall. But this entry definitely felt a lot more mature. Like, I would not typically call the Tekken games art, but… Tekken 8 truly is a work of art. And I think it hits even harder after having played Tekken 7, which felt incomplete in comparison.
I do not even really remember Tekken 7’s story all too much. I remember the ending, sort of. But it is mostly a blank to me. Thankfully, there is an option to watch a recap of its story in Tekken 8. But I opted out of it. I just wanted to dive in and I felt like I had enough of an understanding to not be completely lost. Besides, I had been listening to some podcasts before and those helped jog my memory. Anyway… I say all of this simply to emphasize that I do not foresee myself forgetting about Tekken 8’s story for a long, long time. It was just so good! They did some cool stuff at the end that felt incredibly rewarding, especially for fans. And it was all just, again, awesome.
But what about the technical aspects? The game looks and plays great! It will take about 100 gigabytes of storage space though, so keep that in mind before diving in. But none of it feels wasted. It is all pretty clear where that memory is being allocated. The game is gorgeous! And the music is top-notch. Everything here, really, justifies the $70 price tag. Even though it is a short experience, it is still a worthwhile and memorable one.
Recommendation Level: HIGH (9.5 out 10)
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